New curve

This bed's not much of a looker right now but I'm hoping it will be. The bit in front of the shed was separate so I've joined it up to the main bed to make mowing easier. The bare plant is a Hibiscus; I have three, all in different spots and none grow very well for me. There's some Coreopsis Verticulata next to it and then a Sage I grew from a cutting. I've forgotten that this place was reserved for my new Lupin, currently in my cold frame. Maybe I can crowbar it in...

Winter warmer

I haven't pruned these dogwoods at all but they are still pretty young so full of colour. I have a yellow one in this area too but, like everything else, they need to beef up a bit more to hide the fence. I hope I am not still writing this next year.

I've been looking back at old photos to see how much growth we've had this year. The curvy long border hasn't done bad (this is the first time the grass has been cut and the edges done at the same time - doesn't always look this neat). Things aren't quite covering the wall as I'd hoped. I think I need to feed everything in this border so next year it has more of a growth spurt. Or maybe I'm just impatient.

Things that collapse

This is only the second summer for this border and it's already choc-full. You can't even see the Griselinia hiding at the back but in winter they are about the only thing on show - I'm hoping by the end of the summer they'll be the height of the wall behind (there are three of them there). The yellow flowers at the front are Coreopsis verticillata Zagreb - I bought two very wee pots (I mean those silly inch pots you get in the garden centre early spring) and they seem to be doing as well as last year when they flowered well into October/November although I was a rather manic dead-header. Can't say the rain has allowed for the same this year.

The taller yellow blooms are Anthemis tinctoria 'E.C. Buxton, again bought in an inch pot. I'm a bit annoyed with them as I made sure I staked them (lesson learnt from last year) but this year they have tricked me into growing a foot higher so they all collapsed, hence the rather savage big cane emergency stake that's there. I'll be better prepared for next year.

Long border update

This is the area I call my long border. The top pictures were taken Easter 2005, the bottom are as it looks now. Most of the curves were only dug this year (I took advantage of the mild winter and got a lot done). The structure is mostly there, although shrubs are very low at the moment (a big problem everywhere in the garden). There are a few gaps as I'm not sure how the perennials will fill out this year (they are mostly new this year too - I still buy ones of things but am ruthless at dividing everything in early spring). The idea is to hide the wall (with Griselinia) and the fence (with clematis, and a hibiscus (slow grower though). Can't wait to see how it'll look at the end of the season, a few inches higher I'm hoping.